


Disclosure

by Sylvennia



Series: it's hard to be the one that survives [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Emotional Roller Coaster, First Work uhhhh Ever Yes, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Immortality, M/M, No Beta We Die Like Clones, Old Guard AU, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27388483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylvennia/pseuds/Sylvennia
Summary: aka Cody experiences some rather unnecessary stress and really, why isn't this in his general's medical file?
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi, pre CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: it's hard to be the one that survives [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001676
Comments: 12
Kudos: 313





	Disclosure

**Author's Note:**

> Welp. Here we are. Emma & Nelba, if you darlings see this, know that I caved under y'alls love <3 <3 <3
> 
> Thanks for stopping by! Welcome to the chaos, I hope you enjoy your stay.

The general was down.

Cody felt his blood run cold. That looked like a lethal hit, even for a Jedi. He was moving before he realized, barking orders as Waxer and Boil followed hot on his heels.

_Failure_ , he berated himself as they took down the remaining droids converging on his huddled form, red staining tan, like Tatooine roses against a desert backdrop.

_“What are those, sir?” Cody asked, watching Kenobi pause at a flower stand. Large baskets of vibrant flowers were crammed haphazardly into the small space, stuffed with flowers of all shapes and sizes and colors. The display was almost overwhelming, a barrage on his senses, despite the filters on his bucket._

_“One moment, commander.” The general picked a deep red flower, dropping a credit chit into the shopkeeper’s hand. The togruta glanced between the two of them and gently (but forcefully) shoved a few more flowers into his general’s hands, winking at him with a knowing smirk. His general laughed, giving her a brief nod of appreciation before they waved her goodbye and resumed their exploration of the market._

_General Kenobi handed him a flower to examine, tucking a few into his ammo box. He twirled a rose between his fingers. “These are desert roses native to Tatooine, you see. They grow like weeds, but not many know about them.” He breathed it in, smiling at Cody’s questioning look. “Quite tasty.”_

_Cody frowned. “You can eat flowers?” His general plucked a petal, holding it out to him._

_“Try one.”_

_He pulled off his helmet and popped it in, chewing carefully, expecting to be the tail-end of a joke. “Huh,” he murmured, pleasantly surprised. “Bittersweet.”_

_“It is, isn’t it.”_

He shuddered.

He pressed shaky fingers to his general’s wrist hoping for even the slightest, thready pulse. Nothing. Cody checked his neck, heart sinking deeper and deeper. He shook his head at Waxer and Boil, gathering the general into his arms.

“Let’s get him home,” he said tonelessly, turning back towards their camp. He wondered if his voice was as numb as he was feeling. His body felt distant, a puppet bound by durasteel wires, controlled by unseen hands. “Has contact been made with the 501st?”

Waxer and Boil flanked him, their grief echoing his own. “No sir,” Boil reported. “Jamming frequencies are still live.” Distantly, they could hear battle cries and explosions from the 501st as they mopped up the stragglers, relentlessly chasing the broken fragments of the Separatist front.

Cody tightened his grip, feeling the still-warm blood seeping into his gloves, a sticky reminder of what was coming. Couldn’t the Jedi feel the deaths of their own? Rex’s Jedis must have felt something. General Skywalker and Commander Tano would want an explanation either way. A stormy pall blanketed the camp as they approached, greeting his battle-weary brothers with grim looks. Waxer peeled off to join his brothers in recovering their dead, Boil remaining faithfully at his side. “Notify me when comms are online,” he ordered. Boil nodded.

He wondered if General Skywalker would even grant him the opportunity. If he was going to get decommissioned, he wanted Boil to be promoted, at the very least. It would be his only— The general shifted weakly in his arms, groaning quietly. Cody stopped, staring at Boil whose sheer disbelief mirrored his. A pained whine shook him out of his stupor, and he began to sprint towards the medtent, dodging Vod’e as they scrambled out of the way.

“Helix!” He roared. Helix burst out of the tent in a disheveled state, eyes widening at his load.

“In in in—first station,” he ordered, holding the tent flap open. Cody hurriedly placed his general on the cot before Helix shoved him out of the way, undoing the armor clasps with impressive speed. “Why the kriff did you only get here now?” The general’s tunics were dyed a deep red, darkening as it dried. Cody could feel the same blood drying on his hands, hidden by the black fabric. He hoped his hands weren’t shaking.

“He wasn’t—” Cody didn’t know how to explain. “He was dead.”

Helix looked at him incredulously. “He _what_.” He opened the general’s robes to look for the wounds, freezing. It _couldn’t be_. The blaster sites were slowly but surely closing on their own at an unnatural rate, healthy tissue swallowing the blaster burns and making them disappear as if they’d never happened in the first place. “What the kark.” Helix shot to his feet, yanking at the privacy curtain.

“Bones,” he barked, poking his head out to the rest of the tent. “Nobody comes in here without my permission.”

“Yessir!”

He turned on Cody. “And you, commander,” he hissed, trying to keep it down. “Is this Jedi banthashit? Did the general tell you anything about this during those not-so-sneaky paperwork dates you two have?” Cody spluttered. “Because this _was not_ in the medical records I managed to pry out of his stubborn hands when we were last on Coruscant.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Boil interjected. “But I think he’s done healing.” Cody watched his eyes open, reeling at the waves of relief he felt at seeing those familiar blues. Kenobi groaned, pushing himself up to sitting despite Helix’s efforts to keep him down.

“Sir, you need to stay down—” Helix protested.

“Enough, Helix.” General Kenobi winced at the roughness of his voice. “Thank you.” He turned to face Cody and Boil. “I think we have much to talk about.”

CWCWCWCWCW

After much convincing, they relocated to General Kenobi’s quarters, waiting for Boil to arrive with Waxer in tow.

_“I can walk,” his general said indignantly. “There’s no need for the commander to carry me like an invalid.”_

_“The commander,” he huffed, “is right here.”_

_“It wouldn’t make sense for you to walk out, sir.” Boil gestured around them. “Everyone saw him rush you in here with some urgency.” He coughed. “Not to mention that you were. Um. Technically dead. Anyways.”_

_Helix crossed his arms smugly. “I can always take you back with a gravsled, sir.”_

_“Absolutely not.” Kenobi scrubbed his face tiredly._

_“Sir, just this once,” he prodded. His general looked at him, unimpressed._

_“Commander, you’ll take this ‘once’ and run away with it.” He absolutely would. He stood firm, planting his feet, folding his arms behind his back in textbook parade rest. He waited. Kenobi sighed long-sufferingly._

_“If you insist.”_

_It was reassuring to hold his general’s weight, warm and breathing and so very alive, unlike the eerily still form he’d found. Boil had taken one look at him before snapping a cheeky ‘good luck’ salute, splitting off to find Waxer. Of course he did, that gossip-loving sap. He hugged his general closer as they headed to his tent, still questioning reality. Cody didn’t want to wake up to find that it had all been a karked up dream his brain concocted. But he wouldn’t be surprised if it was._

Cody watched numbly while General Kenobi puttered around his tent as usual, freshly changed into new, unstained robes, shuffling the endless datapads littering his desk as he searched for something. “Commander,” he said, “do sit down. No reason to make you stand.” Helix flopped into a cushion with all the grace of a porg. “See, Helix understands the merits of conserving your energy.”

“Helix is also inclined to declare either of us unfit for duty at every waking moment,” Cody scowled, sinking into a cushion. He bit back an inappropriate groan. Stars, these unassuming cushions had no right being that comfortable.

“ _Helix_ has suffered enough gray hairs and stress thanks to his commanding officers and is not participating in this discussion,” Helix grumbled. General Kenobi joined them, placing a privacy field on the table.

“Come in,” he called. Boil poked his head in.

“Sir?” Waxer popped in next to him.

“General, you’re looking much better.” Waxer slid into the tent, moving to claim a cushion.

“Thank you, Waxer.” Kenobi smiled, gesturing Boil towards the last seat. He powered up the privacy field, waiting for the buzz wash over them. His expression turned severe.

“I believe you gentlemen understand that this incident must stay confidential to the five of us. Under no circumstances can this information be spread, not to your Vod’e or even the other generals. Is that clear?” They nodded solemnly. Cody wasn’t liking where this was going. “You can ask clarifying questions; I may not answer. I will endeavor to tell you as much as I can.” His general paused, gathering himself. His following words clarified nothing.

“What you witnessed today, was the death of an Old Guard.”

He inhaled sharply. “Sir, what does that mean?”

“We are functionally, immortals.” And there it was. Helix let out an incredulous sound as Waxer and Boil froze in their seats. “Yes.” He smiled bitterly.

“It's a power beyond the Force—we don't know why or how we were chosen. It's not exclusive to force-sensitives, though history suggests that it's more likely if you are. The immortality isn't forever. At some point, it runs dry. We stop healing. And we pass, like every other sentient.”

Helix gulped. “How long…?”

He shrugged. “We don’t know. It could be thousands of years, or only hundreds of years. I’m the new one,” he hummed, letting it sink in.

“Who else?” Waxer asked eventually.

Kenobi shook his head. “We have one tenet that we live by: To maintain cover.” He sighed. “Usually, this conversation wouldn’t even happen. Standard protocol is to deal with all witnesses.”

Oh. Cody was going to be sick. They were going to be decommissioned after all. The dread came rushing back full throttle, barreling into him. Should he ask if he could leave a message for Rex? Unrelated, of course but—

“I would never,” Kenobi interrupted, looking each of them in the eye, “ever, consider doing that to you, do you hear me?” He dipped his head in a rare display of vulnerability. “Never. I do not expect nor want any change in your behavior towards me. All I ask is that this information stays private.”

They sat subdued, reeling. Thinking. Considering. The implications of their general’s confession were _enormous_. Cody could hear his heartbeat roaring in his ears, pulsing loudly before Helix broke the silence with a quiet question.

“Wouldn’t you be safer if the Jedi knew?”

Kenobi finally looked up. “The Jedi are not all-powerful; you know that very well.” His eyes dulled, cast far into the distance. “To be a Jedi, is to be a target. For every sentient that seeks our aid, there is another who sees profit. I refuse to burden them unnecessarily with that information. And as someone who cannot die… capture is infinitely worse than death.” A nearly imperceptible tremble rippled through his frame, quickly concealed as he straightened up and plastered on a wry grin. “But I won’t bore you with the details.”

Oh, they had no doubts that it would be anything but boring. But they wanted to respect their general’s boundaries. A series of pings interrupted them, announcing the return of the 501st. Cody took the opportunity, stepping in. “General, if that is everything for now…” His general took a deep breath, nodding.

“Alright. We can reconvene at your convenience, sir.” They all rose to their feet, Waxer and Boil and Helix sharing identical expressions of determination. Cody fell into position next to his general, a spark of pride blooming in his chest as they saluted sharply, filing out of the tent with nothing but conviction. Their footsteps faded into the buzz of the field.

“Permission to speak freely?” He asked.

“As always.”

Cody turned to face him. “I hope you know that this doesn’t change anything.” Kenobi’s brows rose questioningly. “Whatever this is,” he gestured vaguely, “doesn’t change the fact that we were created for you.” He barreled on through Kenobi’s wince at his declaration. “We’ll have your back, sir, no matter where that takes us.” He offered his hand, grinning when his general clasped his forearm in a handshake.

“Thank you, commander.” His grip tightened “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Of course, sir.”

**Author's Note:**

> [My Tumblr,](https://a-mediocre-succulent.tumblr.com) come yell at me!


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